Pregnancy outcome and relationship with hypertensive retinopathy in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among antenatal patients of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Hypertensive retinopathy can occur among women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of hypertensive retinopathy in HDP, and its relationship with pregnancy outcome measures among antenatal patients at Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. This was a tertiary hospital-based observational prospective study carried out between March and December 2023. One hundred and fifty participants who met the recruitment eligibility criteria were enrolled in the study. All patients had physical and ocular examinations. The findings were recorded and analyzed using SPSS v24.0. Categorical variables were summarized as proportions and percentages. Comparison of variables was done using the Chi-square test; a p -value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The proportion of retinopathy in the study population was 58.7%. Pregnancy outcome measures observed to have a significant correlation with hypertensive retinopathy were maternal outcome [seizures] ( p = 0.004), preterm delivery ( p = 0.013) and low birth weight ( p = 0.033). Pregnancy outcome measures without a significant correlation with hypertensive retinopathy included mode of delivery ( p = 0.114), neonatal outcome ( p = 0.231), and APGAR score ( p = 0.483). Retinopathy in hypertensive disorder of pregnancy was significantly associated with maternal outcome (seizure), preterm delivery and low birth weight. It is recommended from these results that advocacy for strengthening maternal & child health (MCH) and education, to prevent complications of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, is important.